Columbus -- Aug. 12 could serve as the most important date in Jim Tressel's coaching career. That's when the Ohio State football coach will make his case in Indianapolis to the NCAA's Committee on Infractions and somehow explain why, according to official NCAA allegations released on Monday, he failed to behave with "honesty and integrity . . . as required by NCAA legislation."

Those are the strongest words and the clearest indication of the seriousness of the violations spelled out in the Notice of Allegations that Ohio State received from the NCAA on Friday. It's also clear that further sanctions are almost assured.

Ohio State has already imposed a five-game suspension and $250,000 fine on Tressel after self-reporting in March his violations for not revealing to his bosses or the OSU compliance department information he received in April of 2010 that two of his players, Terrelle Pryor and DeVier Posey, were potentially involved in selling memorabilia in violation of NCAA rules. Pryor, Posey and three other players were later suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season.

The Notice of Allegations, an official step in any NCAA investigation, notes that by hiding that information, Tressel allowed "football student-athletes to compete while ineligible," a sign that the Buckeyes likely will be forced to vacate their 11 wins from the 2010 season for using ineligible players. The Sugar Bowl win could stand because the NCAA was aware of the violations and allowed the players to take the field. However, Ohio State's record-tying sixth straight Big Ten title and a seventh straight win over Michigan would be wiped away.

In general though, the Notice of Allegations wasn't much different from Ohio State's original self-report, a fact noted by the university in its only, brief comment on the matter. It also didn't include any mention of a "failure to monitor" or "lack of institutional control," broad-based major violations that often come with harsher penalties. Though the Committee on Infractions still has the power to add those charges in August, Mark Jones, a former managing director of enforcement for the NCAA, said Monday it was "meaningful" that they weren't included now.

"It's not as bad as it could have been," said Michael L. Buckner, a Florida attorney who specializes in NCAA enforcement cases.

Beyond the NCAA hearing is the outside notion that Tressel won't make it to August, that the 10-year coach would resign or be fired before that point. There is a possibility that Ohio State could face more severe sanctions with Tressel still at the school, a potential reason to let him go. But Ohio State hasn't learned any new information about the investigation since OSU President Gordon Gee and Athletic Director Gene Smith backed Tressel at a news conference on March 8.

According to someone close to Tressel who was in touch with him since the Notice of Allegations, the coach affirmed that he isn't going anywhere. Asked at the beginning of spring practice if he'd considered resigning, Tressel said: "Never had that thought. That wouldn't be something that would jump in my mind, unless there came that point in time where I said the best thing for these kids would be if I do. I don't feel that way."

The NCAA also made clear that the players themselves will face no further sanctions, though some further extra benefits were discovered. Rather than $7,605 in money and discounts provided to six players, the NCAA is now alleging $13,360 in cash and discounts received by seven players. The seventh player isn't identified, but is apparently no longer on the team.

So for the moment, it's the coach and the school who have their futures in the balance, with much at stake 15 weeks from now, and much still left to clarify. Among the issues:

Repeat violator status: Because Ohio State had a major violation with basketball coach Jim O'Brien providing $6,000 to a recruit and quarterback Troy Smith receiving $500 from a booster that was handed down on March, 10, 2006, the NCAA warned that Ohio State could be seen as a repeat violator, which could lead to harsher sanctions. Those specifically spelled out in the NCAA Manual include loss of scholarships or postseason bans that could apply to bowls or the Big Ten championship game. However, more severe penalties are not automatic, and Buckner believes, based on the Notice of Allegations, that the repeat violator status may not be an issue.

The relationships: The Notice of Allegations spells out 42 specific areas in which Ohio State is to provide information to the NCAA by July 5, in advance of the hearing. They range from the cost, size and purpose of the Gold Pants trinkets given to players for beating Michigan, which two Buckeyes sold, to the TV contracts for OSU football games. Most important may be the statements describing the relationships to the football program of Edward Rife, the owner of the Columbus tattoo parlor who bought the memorabilia from the players; Christopher Cicero, the Columbus attorney and former OSU player who first tipped off Tressel; and Ted Sarniak, the mentor to Terrelle Pryor who was told by Tressel of Cicero's allegations.

The ruling: Given past history, the NCAA is expected to take six to 10 weeks to rule after the hearing, which would fall somewhere around the fourth to eighth games of the regular season. But the ruling could also take longer than that.

Buckner said Ohio State will be helped by the way it has handled this case, self-reporting the initial violations by the players and then the violations by Tressel. But Tressel hid the truth and never came clean. He could face penalties ranging from a longer suspension to, most severely, a show-cause penalty that would make him nearly unemployable.

At the very least, Tressel should have his day. Former Committee on Infractions chairman Gene Marsh previously told The Plain Dealer that Tressel's positive reputation in the community and the college football landscape should help him when the committee considers his case. And though Tressel's chances don't look good when spelled out on NCAA letterhead, there remains a personal component to this process.

"What is submitted right now is important," said Jones, now the chair of collegiate sports practice at ICE Miller, an Indianapolis law firm, "and the impression made at the hearing is important."

So on Aug. 12, Gee, Smith, Tressel, faculty representative John Bruno and compliance director Doug Archie should be in Indianapolis. After 322 games as a head coach, 128 of them at Ohio State, Tressel will have to answer for why his honesty and integrity fell short.